John Markulis was the co-owner of Puritan Bakery, a family run bakery that serves dozens of iconic burger chains in Southern California. Markulis of Palos Verdes died Sunday, Feb. 2. He was 83. COURTESY PURITAN BAKERY

Funeral services

Trisagion Memorial Service will be held Friday, Feb. 7 at 7:30 pm. The funeral will be held Saturday Feb. 8 at 10 a.m. Both will be held at Saint Sophia Cathedral, 1324 S. Normandie Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90006.

In lieu of flowers, in memory of John Markulis you may make a donation to the church of your choice.

John Markulis, known by many in the fast-food industry as the “Bread Man” of Southern California, said that behind every great burger was a great bun.

“He would always say, when you bit into the hamburger, the first thing you would taste is the bun, so the quality had to be very important,” said his daughter Cathy McIndoo of Yorba Linda.

Markulis, co-owner of Carson-based Puritan Bakery, died Sunday in a Torrance hospital. He was 83.

Markulis, who was well-known in the Southern California Greek community, peddled the premium qualities of his bakery's old-fashioned sponge-dough buns for nearly 50 years.

That perseverance earned him the business and loyalty of more than 2,000 restaurants in California, including iconic chains In-N-Out Burger, Johnny Rockets, the Habit Burger Grill, Original Tommy's and Fatburger.

McIndoo said her father refused to retire though he suffered from various illnesses over the years. He would often wander around the Carson factory greeting his workers by name.

“He always came in. His employees were so important to him. Many had worked for him for 20 to 25 years,” McIndoo said.

A feisty workaholic, Markulis began working in the bread business at age 12. He cut his teeth at various bakeries throughout Los Angeles before partnering with the owners of Puritan Bakery in 1965. Back then, the bakery was struggling amid tough competition from larger California rivals, including Van de Kamp Bakery.

Corporate bakeries began cheapening their breads. With the fast-food industry growing at a rapid clip in the 1960s, his philosophy was to outclass large chains like McDonald's with a better product.

He mortgaged his house and invested $5,000 in the near-bankrupt Puritan Bakery.

“It takes a quality product to beat a cheap burger,” Markulis would tell his clients during deals that often ended in a handshake.

Early on, independent eateries like Bravo Burgers, Tom's Family Restaurant and a slew of Greek-run burger houses became his biggest supporters. They were the backbone of the company, along with legacy clients such as In-N-Out and Tommy's.

Markulis, who lived in Palos Verdes, worked with each client to customize buns. The 4-inch buns for In-N-Out, a customer since the 1950s, are “tweaked” (Puritan won't say how) for better grilling results. Tommy's buns are made to better support its heavy chili-slathered burgers.

Dean Kim of OC Baking Company in Orange called him a pioneer for mass-producing the artisan-style buns, which need a long fermentation process to acquire their chewy “good for toasting” texture.

“He went above and beyond what anyone else would do with a hamburger bun,” Kim said. “He was avant-garde.”

In a statement, Tommy's in Los Angeles said Markulis was a "well respected supplier to the restaurant industry and a friend of Original Tommy's Hamburgers."

"While we send heartfelt condolences to his family, we are confident in his team of professionals to continue his tradition of producing the highest quality bread products in our industry," said General Manager Brent Maire.

Today, Puritan's fleet of white and blue trucks are fixtures along Southern California freeways. Each one is emblazoned with Puritan's trademark motto, “Best Buns in Town.”

In a 2011 interview with the Register, Markulis said he was proud of that phrase. He bet his livelihood on those buns, and in turn, his clients – many of them friends – bet on him.

“That's what saved the company – quality,” he said.

Funeral services are pending.

He is survived by his wife of 63 years, Anita; sons George Markulis of Ohio and JJ Markulis of Palos Verdes; daughters Cathy McIndoo of Yorba Linda and Lorraine Papadopoulos of Los Alamitos; brothers Mike, Jimmy and Nick; 14 grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

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